Form 1099 Reporting for News and Media Organizations

• Is the contributor an employee or an independent contractor?

The worker’s status is decided by the nature of the relationship, not by the title. For example, sometimes a “freelancer” or “stringer” can be considered an employee.

• Who received the payment?

The person credited for the work is not always the same person as the payee. Payments can be made to the individual journalist or photographer, or to an LLC, a photo agency, a production company, or another entity.

• What was the payment for?

News media organizations pay for services that include writing, photography, editing, and video production, among others. License payments and other payments for the right to use content are paid for differently.

• Did it include rights or expenses?

One invoice can cover an assignment, travel, and copyright payments, but all these different payments need to be reported separately.

• How was it paid?

Payments made by cards or payment platforms are reported on Form 1099-K by a payment settlement entity, rather than Forms 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC. So, classify the payment first, then apply its threshold.

Payment Type	Form Name	What to Check
Freelance writer	1099-NEC	Writing or reporting work
Copyediting or fact-checking fee	1099-NEC	Nonemployee work
Assignment photographer	1099-NEC	Commissioned images
Video production fee	1099-NEC	Filming or editing
Producer or research fee	1099-NEC	Billed as services
Royalty for copyrighted work	1099-MISC, Box 2	Smaller threshold than services
Office or studio lease	1099-MISC, Box 1	Reported separately
Non-U.S. contributor fee	1042-S	Foreign-payee rules
Fee paid by card	1099-K	Card payments do not have a minimum threshold

Some contributors may do several assignments or jobs back-to-back. Some may only work on one assignment at a time. For example, doing a photo shoot or video, or editing. Doing all these services doesn't make them an independent contractor. The IRS uses several factors related to the relationship to determine employee status, including behavioral control, financial control, and the type of relationship between the payer and the payee.

All contributor roles, such as writers, editors, photographers, videographers, producers, researchers, etc., go through the same test.

Freelancer status, however, will not determine status on its own, even as part of a contributor role. Once the status is determined, the proper form will follow: Form W-2 or Form 1099.

Writers and editors are paid in a variety of ways, either through per article, per word, per assignment, per issue, or per project under an ongoing freelance arrangement.

These payments are all for a service: writing, reporting, editing, research, or fact-checking. If the payer properly classifies the contributor as a nonemployee, the payment will generally be on Form 1099-NEC.

Photographers and videographers can be paid for different things. One is to be paid to make new content. The other is permission to use existing work. Both are reported differently. Service fees may be reported on Form 1099-NEC, while payments that qualify as copyright royalties may be reported on Form 1099-MISC. 

Commissioned Work

A service payment for the creation of a work may include:

Rights to Existing Content

Sometimes a payment is made only for the right to use a photographer’s preexisting work. This type of payment may be considered a copyright royalty and has to be reported on Form 1099-MISC, Box 2. 

A single photography assignment can yield two payments, with both subject to different reporting rules.

For example, a publisher can pay a photographer twice for covering the same event. One payment can be for covering the event, and the other is for usage rights. For example, if a photographer was paid $3,500 for the event coverage and an additional $1,000 for usage rights, the $3,500 payment should be reported as a service payment. Review the $1,000 rights payment separately under the applicable royalty rule. Do not combine the two payments together. 

Maintain separate accounting categories for editorial/production service and rights/royalty to help identify the correct type of reportable payments.

For out-of-town assignments, a media company may reimburse freelance contributors for travel, meal, and/or lodging expenses incurred during the travel.

At the time of filing, these reimbursements can affect the amount reported on Form 1099-NEC. If a nonemployee does not account for these expenses to the organization, the reimbursement becomes nonemployee compensation.

If a freelance reporter receives a $1,700 reporting fee and $500 for travel, the reporting fee counts as nonemployee compensation. The two fees can be added together and taken into account when deciding what to report.

News desks tend to rely on freelance workers to fulfill various functions, such as writing, editing, and photography. However, being a freelancer does not mean that a worker status review is unnecessary. Under IRS guidelines, an ongoing or indefinite working relationship may indicate employee status.

A review of the employment status should be required when the arrangement involves:

A byline or on-screen credit is given to the person who created the content, but that person may not be the payee for Form 1099 reporting. 

A Form 1099 is issued to the person or entity that received the payment. Sometimes it’s the journalist. Other times, it’s a writer’s LLC, a photographer’s studio, a photo agency, a video production company, or another intermediary. Prior to filing, the payer should review the agreement, W-9, invoice, and payment records. These records help identify who received the payment and whether Form 1099 reporting is required. Each document should list the same payee. If it doesn’t, it needs to be corrected before the Form 1099 is issued.

Newsrooms often get images, footage, and copy through outside firms, such as a photo agency, video production firm, an editorial agency, or a production company. Reporting 1099 payments for such payment activities should start with a review. 

A Form 1099 review usually starts with the firm that signed the agreement and collected the payment. The form to be completed generally depends on the:

A freelancer may own the credit, but the form is sent to the production company that received the payment, rather than the credited freelancer.

Foreign coverage almost always includes paying fixers, translators, photographers, producers, and correspondents. A contributor who is considered a foreign person may need Form 1042-S and have to comply with its reporting and withholding rules.

Payments may be made by check, ACH, credit card, or other payment platforms. Reviewing the payment method is important because it may affect who reports the payment. 

For freelancers, payments made by credit card may and certain third-party network payments have to be reported on Form 1099-K by a payment settlement entity (PSE). Third-party settlement organizations (TPSOs) must report payments on Form 1099-K when the total exceeds $20,000, and the number of transactions exceeds 200 during the year. 

Determine the worker status first:This means deciding whether the contributor is an employee or an independent contractor before the first payment. The correct form step depends on the answer to this question.

Request tax forms at signup: Get a Form W-9 from each U.S. contributor. For foreign contributors, obtain the appropriate documentation for foreign payees using Form W-8.

Identify the payee: The payee could be an individual, an LLC, a photo agency, a production company, or another entity. 

Identify the purpose of payment: Include a payment-purpose code to easily see what the payment was for. Some examples of categories are:

Keep fees and rights payments separate: Editorial service fees should be kept separate from copyright payments. Each type of payment should be reported according to its own 1099 reporting rules.

Retain how expenses were documented: Maintain proof of whether each contributor was properly accounted for reimbursed business expenses. This affects whether a reimbursement should be included in the reported amount.

Record how the payment was made: Indicate if the payment was made directly (via ACH or check, for example) or if it was made using a third-party payment service (like a credit card payment). It helps prevent duplicate reporting.

Check TINs and names: Correcting incorrect or missing TINs requires time and may require contacting the individual who submitted the form. 

Tax1099 creates one account for each recipient a news or media organization reports, be it a contributor, production vendor, or rights holder.